Episode 161 (Manga)
Synopsis Guts is kept still under threat of losing his remaining eye. The claw and pliers-wielding disciples use their weapons to restrain Guts' good and prosthetic arm, respectively. Guts can only watch hopelessly as Mozgus takes off in flight away from the Tower of Conviction with the twin disciples, Casca in his arms and Isidro having grabbed onto his head. With Guts now firmly restrained, the four disciples who stayed behind sentence him to death by the wheel for the attempted murder of a clergyman. The wheel-wielding disciple steps forward and rams his weapon right into Guts' stomach, forcing the disciples to release him as he goes flying backwards from the force of the hit. He doesn't have a moment's respite, because the biggest disciple steps forward again to strike with the wheel once more. The impact sends Guts flying through a column and into the back wall of the room. Jerome and Farnese watch in shock as the claw-wielding disciple uses his weapon to yank Guts' arm, pulling the Black Swordsman to his feet to face more punishment. The wheel-wielding disciple looms over him, and swings his wheel around to deal the decisive blow; Guts knows he can neither endure another hit nor dodge, so he points his prosthetic arm right at the disciple and uses his teeth to pull the secondary trigger of his cannon arm. The metal hand flips downwards, revealing the hole from which a cannonball shoots out, going right through the disciple's abdomen. Even though it took a cannon shot midway through its swing, the disciple still swings with enough force to knock Guts off his feet and into the air, directly at the claw-wielding disciple. Using his backwards momentum, Guts spins in midair, cleaving the disciple in two with one mighty swing of the Dragon Slayer. Jerome is taken aback, Nina is traumatized, and Farnese is shaken by the lightning-quick sequence of attacks that have just taken place. Farnese in particular is disturbed at how Guts is willing to be hit by the wheel if it means victory. The pliers-wielding disciple is the next to charge, zig-zagging around the pillars of the room to disorient Guts before striking. It never even manages to reach him: Guts throws up two of the smaller studded explosive balls at it, blowing half of its face off. He then drives the Dragon Slayer through its torso, finishing it off. The only disciple left in the room is the crow-man. There is a brief pause. Guts waits for the crow-man to move, but the latter is praying to God. It's only once his prayer ends that the pseudo-Apostle raises his spiked collar-spear, ready to attack. It charges forwards, simultaneously extending its spear and sending its feathers at Guts' face. The Black Swordsman does not flinch, letting both the feathers bury their spines in his face and letting the collar wrap around his neck. With the crow-man now well within reach, Guts casually swings the Dragon Slayer once, breaking the spear in half and slicing the crow-man's neck open. On the verge of death, the pseudo-Apostle sinks to its knees and clasps his hands, praying in its final moments before finally dying. Guts removes the collar from his neck and the feathers from his face before moving to get out of the Tower of Conviction. Jerome's attempts to draw his attention are futile, but Guts stops to look at Farnese before reaching the stairs, watching the girl stare up at him with tears in her eyes. Suddenly, there is a violent earthquake that shakes the whole building, causing cracks to appear in the walls and loose bricks to fall to the ground. Characters in Order of Appearance